The Sun goes down

LA Times newspaper folds less than two years after start

In a column published Saturday, Pasadena Sun editor Dan Evans announced that the paper would cease publication immediately.

“We launched not quite two years ago — Aug. 5, 2011 — with a goal of becoming the deepest and most insightful source of news for Pasadena, South Pasadena and San Marino,” Evans wrote. “We strove to cover things long ignored, to uncover wrongs, and give our readers a deeper understanding of their communities. I believe we achieved those goals.”

Phones at the Sun — which was owned by the Los Angeles Times as part of its Times Community News division — had been disconnected by Monday. A Times communications spokesperson referred to Evans’ column when asked why the paper was closing.

According to Evans, head editor of Times Community News, the audience for the paper’s brand of news had constantly grown, but the paper had not “quite figured out how to pay for it.”

In October, Times’ management closed the paper’s office in La Cañada Flintridge, as well as the offices of its sister papers, the Glendale News-Press and the Burbank Leader, and moved all reporters to Los Angeles.

But even as support staffers were being cut and offices shuttered, Evans fought to save reporters. Since the office closures, Evans said that the paper has been shifting its focus to its digital product and would soon release apps for smart phones.

Since 2007, newspaper advertising revenue nationwide has plummeted by 50 percent, to $24 billion annually, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

“I’m glad we tried, even if it didn’t work out,” Evans wrote. “And I’m glad we didn’t slowly chip away at our quality in a vain attempt at profitability. Will we be back? I certainly hope so. Pasadena, it was great, and let this be farewell for now and not goodbye.”